Family
by LuxaLucifer
Summary: In his own way, Kreacher was part of the Potter family.


Wow, writing this was not easy. Written for the QLFC Round 1 Finals, of course. Prompts were feathers, The Captain, and lost and found. :)

* * *

What Kreacher loved was the bustle. Some mornings he thought he was just too old to serve his family (not that he had to, they told him every day, he was free now). But then Kreacher would roll out of his warm nest and find people running around, the children tripping over the tables and each other, Harry Potter asleep at the table as the Weasley woman (Ginny, he reminded himself, she told him to call her Ginny) hollered orders.

So alive. The air vibrated with their movement, their combined exuberance. It made Kreacher forget about the long years by himself, with no one but the pictures to keep him company. It made him forget about the years of dust and misery and mourning. With the Potters, he lived in the moment.

* * *

"Mum! I can't find it!"

"Can't find what, honey?"

Lily's face was streaked with tears as her mother gripped her shoulders, calming her down. Kreacher stopped washing the dishes to watch them.

"I can't find my diary!" wailed Lily.

Kreacher expected the Weasley woman -Ginny- to do what she always did when one of the children lost something. He expected to her to soothe the girl and pat her on the head and say, "Don't worry, we'll find it," or "Lily, you silly girl, it's right here."

She didn't. She stilled, face slack as her body froze in one short second. What felt like years later, she finally opened her mouth, licking her lips as her eyes searched Lily's face, although Kreacher had no idea what she was looking for.

"Oh," said Ginny finally. "F-Find it then."

Lily's face crumpled, but Ginny had already turned away. The only one who saw it was Kreacher.

When he was done with the dishes, he searched. His old bones protested- it took him a long time to do anything these days, too long, and often all he wanted was to have it over with and put his head on the wall until he remembered that his master (not master, he reminded himself, employer, friend) didn't do that.

But it mattered now, so he searched. It took longer than he thought it would, but he found Lily's diary eventually. It was wedged between the bed and the wall, common enough, except that he found it in James's room. Regulus and Sirius had been like that, thought Kreacher, and the memory didn't even hurt too much.

"Here," croaked Kreacher the next time he bumped into Lily. "I found it."

Behind Lily, Ginny was watching from several feet away.

"Oh thank you!" squealed the girl. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you so much!"

Kreacher smiled, but was caught off by Lily's next action- jumping and hugging Kreacher so hard he almost fell over.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kreacher saw Ginny mouth 'thank you.'

* * *

Kreacher wasn't sure how he felt about parties. Harry Potter's parties, anyway. He liked the bustle and the noise and all of the people, but some of them gave him nasty looks, and they made him think of the old days. Even though he'd sworn to honor their memories no matter what, the more time Kreacher spent with Harry Potter the less he liked his old master and even his Mistress Black.

"Kreacher!" yelled the younger boy, right in the old house elf's ear. "The Captain! The Captain's coming!"

"Which captain?" asked Kreacher cautiously. "Your mother's Captain, or...the other one?"

"The other one!"

Kreacher did not like the other one.

"Why?" he asked.

"This party's for him!" said Albus, grinning. "Puddlemere won the League this year!"

Kreacher didn't understand, but it wasn't his place. It was only after he'd turned around that he let himself frown.

The Other Captain was rude, overbearing, and, most of all, _large_. He never paid Kreacher any attention, which Kreacher was used to, but he never paid any attention to anyone else either. The last time he'd come to the house he and Ginny had gotten into a huge fight that resulted in broken pottery and wounded feelings.

Why were they holding a party for him?

Kreacher decided to put it out of his mind. That became hard, however, when Harry asked him to help with the preparations.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," said Harry, and he always meant it, but Kreacher always wanted to.

Except now. Kreacher seriously considered not baking the pies and setting the tables, but work was too deeply ingrained in him for that, and before he knew it his fingers were moving on their own.

"What's wrong, Kreacher?"

The party had started. Kreacher was standing in the corner of the room, watching the Captain with narrowed eyes. He was drinking; Kreacher didn't think much of that. He'd been drinking before the fight with Ginny.

Kreacher looked up directly next to him and realized it was Harry Potter who was talking to him, his Harry, and he realized he had to respond.

"Why is he here?" he managed, embarrassed by his own boldness.

"Who?" said Harry, bewildered.

"The Captain."

"Oliver? Didn't Albus tell you why we were having the party?"

"Yes," spat Kreacher. "He did. You invited him even though he had that fight with Ginny. He doesn't deserve to be here."

Harry actually laughed. "Kreacher, Ginny started that fight. They were both drunk, and it was just a silly spat about Quidditch teams. Oliver's a really nice guy."

Kreacher still didn't trust the Captain, but he did trust Harry Potter. He let it go.

"Also," said Harry. "I think that's the first time you've called her Ginny."

"Out loud," said Kreacher.

Harry looked surprised, and then pleased.

* * *

He wished he were a faster runner. If he were, he might be able to escape the terrors chasing him. He would be able to sprint away, far away, where they would never find him.

Unfortunately, children were generally faster than old house elves.

"We got him!"yelled James, who, in Kreacher's opinion, was far too old to prey on innocent house elves.

"Do it!" screeched Albus.

Lily only giggled, but it was just as evil as every word out of the boys' mouths.

"Now!" said James.

Albus and Lily, each with a piece of something very feathery, pulled something over his head. He protested strongly, but they kept at it, and they'd succeeded in their nefarious goal seconds later.

"Why..." he croaked when he'd looked down. "Why did you put a feather dress on me?"

James shrugged. "Why not?"

And then, suddenly, a shadow loomed over them all. They craned their necks upwards and saw the dark-eyed gaze of a Mr Harry Potter.

"Uh-oh," said James.

After Harry had collected and punished all his children, he helped Kreacher get the dress off.

"I'm sorry," Harry kept saying. "I'm really sorry. I don't know where they got it into their nasty little heads to do that. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," said Kreacher. He smiled. "Kids only do that if they think you're one of them. Regulus and Sirius, my old family...they did things like that to each other."

Harry hesitantly smiled as he brushed the last feather off Kreacher's forehead. "You've been a member of this family a long time, Kreacher. You don't need something like this to prove it."

* * *

Review it or whatever it is you people do. :)


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